


A Marriage of No Convenience

by orphan_account



Category: Barnum! In Secret Service to the USA
Genre: 19th Century, Character of Color, Double Drabble, F/M, Five Points, Interracial Relationship, New York City, Weddings, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-23
Updated: 2008-04-23
Packaged: 2017-10-09 02:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pelham and Firestone get hitched.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Marriage of No Convenience

**Author's Note:**

> Done as a part of my personal "30 canon pairing drabbles" challenge.

Pelham and Firestone dress down to go to Five Points. A black man and a white woman wearing trousers, walking arm in arm down Worth Street are not invisible, but a fine suit makes a fine target, and they're in no hurry to be fight muggers.

They find the preacher in one of the new houses, behind a stage with a rolled-up flag. His rooms are clean and nearly empty; he tells them he had "visitors" a few nights ago, and that he was fortunate that his family wasn't home at the time. Burglary is routine in this part of the city, but so is rape and murder.

He marries them in that same bare room, his wife and daughter as their witnesses. Firestone gives Pelham her father's ring; Pelham makes a present of a simple one with a single orange stone. They thank the preacher and walk out, back through hell, a man and wife - at least as far as they're concerned. The preacher has lost his licence, but there are no others who would marry them before God.

Pelham is captured by the the softness in her eye, the angle of her smile. Firestone clasps the warmth of his hand.


End file.
